Social Security History

This is an archival or historical document and may not reflect current policies or procedures.

History of SSA 1993 - 2000

Chapter 7: Public Understanding

“The
American public looks to our agency for a base of factual information
about the program and about the issues. Public education
is one of the most important things that we do.”

– Commissioner Kenneth Apfel

E

ducating the public
on Social Security issues has always been an important part of
the Agency’s mission.From
1993 thru 2000, the Social Security Administration (SSA) continued
its commitment to providing information to the public.This responsibility spanned from providing basic information
to beneficiaries to entering the public policy arena by promoting
an interest and knowledge of issues such as Social Security’s
long-range fiscal health.The significance of public understanding is reflected not
only in the Agency’s strategic plans, but also in the major change
that has occurred within the Agency itself, namely that of Independent
Agency.

Independence in 1995 provided
an atmosphere that significantly changed the manner in which,
and hence the effectiveness, of the Agency’s efforts to reach
the American public.Increased
external visibility to Social Security’s stakeholders[1]
and internal reorganization necessitated by independence required
the Agency to change its focus, vision, and emphasis.The Agency embarked on
a number of initiatives to educate the American public, and to
give its own employees the tools to become individual representatives
for Social Security.

For 65 years, the Agency has
delivered service to the American public in a manner that has
fostered confidence and trust in the quality of its programs and
employees.But this
confidence and trust are premised upon both outstanding service
and a public understanding of what Social Security is and means
to the American public.Millions of Americans are directly benefited by the Agency
and take a more active and personal interest in Social Security.Many more millions, however, are not directly affected
by the Agency, and they often do not understand how Social Security
works, how it will benefit them in the future, and how best to
protect its integrity.Without this broader public understanding, the Agency cannot
build the trust and confidence of the American public in the importance
of Social Security.Also,
the Agency would not be able to fulfill its mandate to serve the
public in an effective and compassionate manner.

SSA has the responsibility
to communicate in an authoritative, credible, accurate, and accessible
manner with the 200 million Americans, as of calendar year 1999,
who are affected by and/or benefit from its many programs.These include the 48
million individuals who are receiving Social Security benefits,
and the 153 million workers who pay the taxes that finance the
program. [2] The Agency has a special obligation
to inform these workers about the benefit protections, the financing
of benefits, and the operations of the Trust Fund.Public confidence in the Agency is directly linked to public
understanding of the programs, and the American public has a vital
need and interest in information about Social Security, a program
that has become a part of the fabric of our society.

Independent Agency

1993-1995: Pre-Independent Agency

“The
Commissioner of Social Security must be an active, ardent,
and forceful voice in educating the American public as to
the value of Social Security protection to individuals and
families, now and in the future. We must work to turn
public opinion around before eroding public confidence in
Social Security is transformed into popular support for measures
that could diminish the system’s effectiveness and endanger
the financial security of millions of Americans.” [3]

– Commissioner Shirley S. Chater

T

he Agency in 1993
was relatively passive and reactive in educating the public.Protected by the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) from public scrutiny, and more importantly, Congressional
attention, the Agency’s self prescribed mandate did not extend
beyond the straightforward:to provide basic, programmatic information to those who
inquire about it.However,
the idea was born that the Agency should do more to promote a
broader understanding of the public policy issues surrounding
Social Security, and increase efforts to educate the broader American
public about Social Security.This idea expanded with new leadership, and was acknowledged
as part of the fundamental mission of the Agency.

Historical
Background

In 1936, when the Social Security
Board began operation, an Office of Information was created with
direct access to the agency’s top administrator.The need for and value of public information were clear.First, there was a nationwide effort to explain the difference
between the new concept of “social insurance” and to create a
distinction between this government program and the widely accepted
though stigmatized notion of “public relief.”On a practical level, wide publicity was needed to register
people with Social Security numbers and to respond to privacy
concerns about that number.

During 1937, 50 million leaflets
explaining the use of the Social Security number were printed
and distributed to workers at factory gates and offices throughout
the country.These
workers also needed to be informed about their rights and responsibilities
under the Social Security program, such as tax contribution rates,
benefit formulas and eligibility criteria.In 1936, for example, the Board said “if the public is
fully informed about eligibility requirements, the agency is saved
much trouble and expense since few ineligibles apply.”

By the post World War II years,
the program was maturing and quickly becoming part of the fabric
of American life.Public
information responsibilities of the Agency, while important, now
played a subordinate role.Public education and public information efforts increasingly
focused on program eligibility requirements, with comparatively
lesser attention given to basic program philosophy and financing
structure.This
lack of priority was reflected in the institutional placement
of the Office of Communications (OCOMM) within the Agency.

Until 1996, OCOMM (and its
predecessors) functioned as a staff component headed by an Associate
Commissioner.For example, in 1990,
the Office of Public Affairs was a subcomponent of the Office
of the Deputy Commissioner for Policy and External Affairs.The Associate Commissioner for Public Affairs was one of
five associate commissioners reporting to a Deputy Commissioner,
and one of 35 associate commissioners within the agency.

Access to the Commissioner
and the Executive Staff was limited.Professional advice about communications issues and vital
communications concerns on policy issues was filtered through
other components, as were questions from the Executive Staff about
appropriate communications policies.Broad issues about national public affairs policy were
often deferred to the Agency’s then parent agency, HHS, much like
most other issues within the Agency at the time.

More significantly, this arrangement
kept the Agency from the glare of public scrutiny and Congressional
attention, and there was little direct pressure for the Agency
to go beyond the basic responsibility of providing programmatic
information to the public.Throughout most of the past 25 years, and until it became
an independent agency in 1995, the Agency’s communications activities
were often scattered, unfocused, and uncoordinated.For example:

·The Press Office was part of the Office of the Commissioner;

·Employee communications were located within the Office
of Human Resources;

·Speechwriting was first a function of the Office of Policy,
and then switched to the Office of the Commissioner;

·Regional communications efforts were directed by the Office
of Operations; and,

·Internet public information responsibilities were primarily
under the Office of Systems, but a number of other components
also had control over other aspects of it, leading to an unfocused
and inefficient use of resources.

The
result of a non-centralized communications policy was an inability
to define or effectively present core Social Security public information
messages.Communications
efforts were often duplicative and wasteful of limited agency
resources.

In short, the Agency’s emphasis
on public education and public information efforts was comparatively
less than in the early years, and OCOMM often did not have a “seat
at the table” when important communications policy decisions about
SSA and its programs were being made.

Moreover, other collateral
issues had an impact upon how the Agency carried out its mandate
to educate the American public.For instance, one of the legacies of downsizing in the
1980s was a decreasing workforce with increasing workload.This never ending “trimming of the fat” led to less and
less time and energy devoted by the Agency to educate its own
workforce on program philosophy and financial structure, and an
increase in focus on workload management, resulting in many field
office Managers unable or unwilling to grant much time for the
long term investment of workforce development at the expense of
short term workload product.The unfortunate and unforeseen result of this shortsighted
course of action has been that the Agency’s own employees, arguably
its greatest public education tool, have become less effective
as representatives of their own employer, the Social Security
Administration, to the American public.

These institutional and collateral
forces made Agency efforts to educate the public less than effective.Because of the insularity
afforded by HHS, SSA could not achieve the full scope of its mission,
causing the appearance of a lack of initiative in the Agency’s
education efforts.The
lack of cohesion and focus in communications efforts ensured that
any initiatives undertaken by the OCOMM were going to be less
than successful.And
with its actions usually below the radar of the Executive Staff
(not to mention the leadership of HHS), there was often a lack
of interest and support from the leadership.

However, new leadership under
Commissioner Chater sought to change some of these systemic problems.Whereas the strategic
goals set in 1991 did not directly address the issue of public
understanding, [4]
one of the three strategic goals articulated by Commissioner Chater
in 1994 specifically addressed communication issues – Rebuild
Public Confidence in Social Security. [5]Rebuilding and revitalizing the communications function
of the Agency was one of her highest priorities.To do so, Commissioner
Chater brought in outside expertise to help develop this function
within the newly independent Agency.

Commissioner Chater understood
that public confidence was predicated upon a public that understands
the issues surrounding Social Security.More significantly, she understood that while not directly
related to the actual work of Social Security, the confidence
of the American public was critical to maintaining public backing,
public involvement, and thus Congressional support for Social
Security.She recognized that her
standing with the White House was crucial to these efforts, and
that proper handling of the media was critical.Her farsightedness would serve the Agency well through
the changes to come, and the theme of public confidence was soon
to be echoed by Congress in the most significant change to SSA
during the Clinton Administration – its independence.

1995: SSA Becomes an Independent Agency

“As
Commissioner, one of my roles will be to help Americans understand
Social Security today, so that they will be prepared to make
the tough choices to ensure the program will be there for
them tomorrow.”

n August 1994,
the Congress passed and the President signed into law legislation
that established the Social Security Administration as an independent
agency within the Executive Branch of government.The reasons given by the Congress for establishing the
SSA as an independent agency were to strengthen the public’s confidence
in Social Security by giving it more visibility and accountability,
by promoting administrative efficiency, and by streamlining the
operations of the Agency so that it could better serve the American
public.

Independence changed the Agency
in far more significant ways both externally and internally than
the simple word would suggest.Externally, the Congressional goal to strengthen public
confidence by promoting visibility and accountability was quickly
achieved by the Agency’s elevation to the center stage for both
the public and the Congress.Internally, the advent of independence resulted in major
organizational changes necessitated by the Agency separating from
HHS; components and departments of SSA formerly underdeveloped
or underutilized because of the protective shadow of HHS were
forced to mature.

External visibility and internal
reorganization began to reverse many of the roadblocks in the
way of an effective Agency communications plan.Without the cover of HHS, the Agency was forced to deal
directly with the American public, the Congress, the White House,
and the media.Internal reorganization
resulted in a much more consolidated communications team, leading
to more cohesion and focus.And the elevation of OCOMM to the Deputy Commissioner level
brought communication issues to the attention of the Executive
Staff.OCOMM now
had direct access to and full support of the entire leadership
of the Agency.

External
Pressure: Increased Visibility

External visibility increased
significantly with independence.The Agency would henceforth deal directly with its main
external stakeholders – the American public, the Congress, the
White House, and the media.Heightened attention given to Social Security public policy
issues during this time period, especially around the issue of
solvency after President Clinton’s 1998 State of the Union Address,
guaranteed that the Agency’s voice would be heard.Moreover, the Agency would have to respond to public inquiries
on its own.

After legislation making SSA
independent became effective in March 1995, the Agency quickly
gained a more prominent profile.For example:

·Media contacts became more frequent;

·The Agency set up a physical presence in Washington DC;

·The Commissioner made more public appearances and testified
more often before Congress; [7]
and

·Agency employees began to participate more frequently in
local discussions regarding Social Security.

These
actions were a direct result of the increased visibility of the
Agency to the American public.

Then, through his 1998 State
of the Union Address, President Clinton further thrust the Agency
into the public spotlight when he acknowledged the long-term financing
problems that were facing the Social Security program.To “Save Social Security
First,” the President stated that educating the American public
so that they understand the issues facing Social Security programs
was crucial.Thus
began a full year of dialogue with the American public.The Agency was committed to talking with and listening
to the American public.

The Agency also placed a new
emphasis upon liaison with, and outreach efforts to national advocacy
groups and major civic organizations.Periodic “brown-bag lunches” with stakeholders
and others interested in Social Security issues were begun.These efforts
promoted an informal discussion of issues and Agency initiatives,
and efforts were also made to ensure that the Agency had
a presence at every major convention across the country.

The Social Security Advisory
Board noted at the time that SSA should take the lead in educating
workers and their families about retirement planning.This will be especially important in the coming decades.There are as of 2000 roughly 80 million members of the
“baby boom” generation in middle age, and in 2008 the first of
these individuals will begin to retire.Many are just now starting to prepare financial plans for
their retirement years.

Internal
Pressure: Organizational Change

Internal organizational change
was required by independence because certain components were underutilized
while the Agency was a component of HHS.For example, the pre-independence OCOMM was less than proactive
because institutionally it was not given the responsibility beyond
narrowly defined goals of providing specific program information.Typically, public and (especially) Congressional inquires
were dealt with by HHS; the Agency did not develop the structures
necessary to respond to such requests.Independence changed all of this.

The elevation of OCOMM to a
Deputy Commissioner level component resulted in bringing communication
issues to the forefront of the Agency’s leadership and in allowing
it to focus and consolidate formerly disjointed communication
efforts.OCOMM began
to slowly consolidate the formerly scattered communication efforts
of the Agency, providing a foundation for developing a comprehensive,
focused, and cohesive communications plan.The Press Office, internal communication efforts, speechwriting,
and eventually the running of the Agency’s Internet website would
come under its purview.Communication initiatives that were once unfocused and
unrealized were given the focus and support that was previously
missing.

While both Commissioner Chater
and Commissioner Apfel have championed the cause of SSA being
a force for public education in Social Security issues, they both
realized that real change could only occur with institutional
change.Without
an institutional component advocating the communication perspective,
the Agency could not provide the focused and cohesive leadership
in education that was envisioned by the Commissioners and demanded
by the President and the American public.But this change was not always easy or necessarily smooth.

Communications is not an explicit
business process of the Social Security Administration, and the
Agency’s leadership sometimes had to work hard to convince others
to understand the need for and value of communications.The linkage between effective
communications, public and hence Congressional support, and the
future stability of the Social Security program was not always
clear.Moreover,
the concept that public confidence is directly tied to an informed
and educated public was sometimes lost to those who saw the Agency
as just a technical program service provider rather than an integral
part of Americans’ lives.However, leadership directly from the Commissioners spearheaded
both the elevation of communications within the institutional
structure of the Agency, and also as a strategic goal.

One of the first challenges
of the newly established OCOMM was finding its place within the
strategic plans for the newly independent SSA.Under both new strategic plans, [8]
public understanding was recognized as one of five Agency-wide
strategic goals; both plans defined the goal as:“[T]o strengthen public
understanding of the social security programs.” [9]The inclusion of public
understanding as a strategic goal of the Agency was not a forgone
conclusion, but required the strong sponsorship of Commissioner
Apfel.Only through
his personal advocacy did the full Executive Staff become convinced
of the need for communications as one of five strategic goals
for the Agency.

In addition to OCOMM, the Office
of Legislation and Congressional Affairs (OLCA) also went through
significant changes as a result of independence.OLCA was forced to establish a physical presence in Washington
DC, [10]
increase its staff substantially to take on all the responsibilities
of a “full fledged” agency, and develop the institutional and
human resource skills to become effective communicators with one
of the Agency’s most important external stakeholders – the Congress.

The appointment of the Agency’s
first confirmed Deputy Commissioner in November 1999 was a key
component of improved Congressional relations.As the Chief Operating Officer and working closely with
the Commissioner, the Deputy Commissioner made a number of visits
to members of Congress.These visits emphasized
Social Security’s appropriations and budgetary needs, the Agency’s
efforts to enhance service to the public through electronic service
delivery initiatives, the impact of the repeal of the Retirement
Earnings Test, and issues affecting Social Security’s future.

The higher visibility of the
Agency on the Hill helped facilitate such things as securing $35
million in supplemental funding for the Agency in June 2000.In addition, Congressional awareness of the challenges
facing Social Security increased, and the Agency’s working relationship
with Congress and numerous subcommittees was strengthened.

The Deputy Commissioner’s Office
also spearheaded the creation of an Agency task force to inform
Congressional Members and their staffs about Social Security’s
Fiscal Year 2001 resource needs and to develop support for a proposal
to take Social Security’s administrative expenses out of the discretionary
spending caps.As
a result of this effort, on October 11, 2000, Congressman Clay
Shaw and Congressman Ben Cardin introduced The
Social Security Administration Preparedness Act of 2000.This legislation would
exempt Social Security’s administrative expenses from current
budget caps and classifies these expenses under a new separate
cap only for Social Security’s administrative costs. [11]If enacted, Social Security
will no longer compete with health research, education, and other
important programs for resources to administer the nation’s social
insurance programs, placing the Agency in a much better position
to deal with the substantial workload increases anticipated as
the baby boom generation moves toward their disability prone years
and retirement.

These two forces, the pressure
of public scrutiny and internal reorganization, provided the impetus
for the Agency to grow and mature quickly.These changes coupled with dynamic new leadership helped
forge new initiatives and pushed the Agency to go further in educating
the public.The leadership came from
the Commissioner and his Executive Staff.Assistance also came
from the Social Security Advisory Board, who noted that the Agency
should go beyond providing basic information about Social Security
and should take the lead in educating workers and their families
about retirement planning. [12]During the national dialogue associated with solvency,
the newly developed skills in communicating with the American
public and the Congress would serve the Agency well.

Major Initiatives

“Helping
individuals understand what they need to do to ensure their
economic security in retirement should be a major objective
of the agency.”

n assessing communications
needs soon after becoming independent, the Agency concluded that
new initiatives were needed in three separate but related areas:1) reliably measuring communications performance; 2) creating
new public information products to address topical Social Security
issues; and 3) training SSA executives and employees to communicate
effectively with the public in a new communications environment.Additional emphasis by Vice President Gore, in the National
Partnership for Reinventing Government, was given when he noted
that the Federal government has a special responsibility to communicate
concisely and understandably.

SSA committed itself to an
aggressive, proactive public education outreach campaign.The campaign included the following:1) public events and media campaigns; 2) the development
of new brochures and printed materials; 3) the Social Security
Statement; and 4) making maximum use of new technology, including
the Internet.

From 1998 thru 2000, Agency
employees participated in more than 10,000 public events and media
opportunities on Social Security and issues affecting its future.These events included, for example, community events co-sponsored
by such organizations as the Junior Chamber of Commerce and Americans
Discuss Social Security, community forums held in conjunction
with U.S. Congressional representatives, newspaper editorial board
interviews, and Internet forums.

Measuring Communications Performance

T

he Government Performance
and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 redefined how government is evaluated,
making every Federal program responsible for producing measurable
results.In 1997,
SSA established a Strategic Plan with five key strategic goals,
with one of the goals being “to strengthen public understanding
of the Social Security programs.”In response to the GPRA’s mandate to demonstrate tangible
results, quantitative objectives were established for each of
the five goals.For
the public understanding goal, the Agency’s objective was to have
90 percent of the American public knowledgeable about the Social
Security program in five critical areas by 2005.Those areas are:

(1)Basic program facts;

(2)Financial value of
the program to individuals;

(3)Economic and social
impact of the program;

(4)Social Security’s
current financing; and

(5)Financing issues.

As
noted in the Agency’s Strategic Plan, “the achievement of this
goal [of strengthened public understanding] supports every other
goal of the organization.It helps people knowledgeably debate the issues facing
Social Security; it supports SSA’s ability to provide world-class
customer service; it helps customers understand their responsibilities
under law, leading to payment accuracy and reduction of fraud;
and it raises the level of public respect for SSA employees.”

When the goal was established
in 1997, available measures of public knowledge about Social Security
were unsatisfactory, and the Agency was unable to determine if
progress was being made toward achieving the objectives.It needed to identify
the effectiveness of implemented programs among different segments
of the national audience and program information areas that needed
more emphasis.At
the time, the best data available on public knowledge regarding
Social Security were survey data on the degree to which individuals
personally claimed to have knowledge about Social Security.These data were inadequate to answer the specific questions
the Agency identified, and better measurement tools had to be
devised.

In late 1997, SSA, with the
help of the Gallup Organization, developed the Public Understanding
Measurement System (PUMS) as a process to measure the public’s
baseline level of knowledge of Social Security programs.A series of 19 questions
related to Social Security was created, and in 1998 a nationwide
survey of 4,000 adults was conducted.The Agency determined that individuals who had 13 correct
answers would be considered “knowledgeable.”[14]

The 1998 results indicated
that 55 percent of the public was knowledgeable about Social Security
programs, and had an understanding of the basic programs and concepts.The results also indicated that the public was not as knowledgeable
about the more technical features of Social Security, such as
the average benefit amount.A statistical analysis showed that knowledge variance was
chiefly due to demographic factors such as age, education, and
income, with older, more educated, and high-income individuals
showing the highest degree of knowledge.

A second survey was completed
in January 2000, and it showed a slightly higher overall knowledge
level.In addition, the results
showed an increase in the public’s knowledge about several questions
related to an individual’s own retirement planning.For example, knowledge that an individual can receive some
retirement benefits before full retirement age rose from 62 percent
to 65 percent, while knowledge that there will be an increase
in the age for receipt of full retirement benefits rose from 65
percent to 72 percent.One pivotal factor in increasing the overall level of public
knowledge about Social Security was receipt of the Social Security
Statement. [15]

The PUMS survey was designed
to answer both questions initially identified by SSA as important
to further the strategic goal of educating the public on Social
Security.It provides
a valuable guide for identifying basic Social Security information
not generally known by the public, and identifying subsets of
the population in which an understanding of Social Security was
lower than the general population.This knowledge will help facilitate focused communication
efforts to target under informed segments of society.

The Agency has set performance
targets for FY 2000 and FY 2001.Data and other analysis from the PUMS will be the primary
method used to measure progress in achieving the strategic education
objective.A national
survey of 4,000 people will be conducted each October through
the year 2005, and a series of quarterly surveys in several regions
will help determine the effectiveness of specific public education
initiatives.

The Social Security Statement

“The
Social Security Statement is a valuable tool that will help
Americans prepare for their long-term financial security;
it puts the future in their hands.”

– Commissioner Kenneth S. Apfel

O

n October 1, 1999,
the Social Security Administration launched the largest customized
mailing ever undertaken by a Federal agency when it began to send
an annual Social Security Statement (a redesigned Personal Earnings
and Benefit Estimate Statement) to125 million workers.Designed to increase the overall level of public knowledge
about Social Security, the Social Security Statement potentially
represents one of the Agency’s most valuable public information
and education tools.The
4-page statement helps workers with financial planning by providing
estimates of their retirement, disability, and survivors’ benefits.The statement also provides workers an easy way to determine
whether their earnings are accurately posted on their Social Security
records.

The annual Social Security
Statement was the result of efforts by Senator Daniel Patrick
Moynihan to establish in law the requirement that all Americans
receive an annual statement of potential Social Security benefits.By law, the Agency will
send the annual statements to workers who are ages 25 and older
and not receiving Social Security benefits.The Agency staggers the mailing of the statements throughout
the year, with approximately 500,000 statements delivered each
day (about 10 million per month).Workers automatically receive their statements about three
months before their birthday.

The Omnibus Budget and Reconciliation
Acts of 1989 and 1990 required the Agency to begin providing the
public with annual statements about each individual’s Social Security
earnings record and estimates of the amount of benefits individuals
may receive.These
Statements had been available to the public upon request since
1988.However, the
legislation required the Agency to start sending these Statements
automatically in FY 1995 to workers reaching age 60 (and older),
and in FY 1996 through FY 1999 to those attaining age 60 in those
years.The legislation
further required that beginning in FY 2000, the Agency would issue
the Statements annually to all workers age 25 and over, an estimated
133 million people.The
intent of this provision was to assure that each worker is aware
of the protection provided by Social Security and is periodically
afforded the opportunity to review the accuracy of the his/her
earnings record.

The results of the January
2000 PUMS survey undertaken with help by the Gallup Organization
showed that receipt of the Statement played a significant role
in increasing Americans’ understanding of Social Security.The survey showed that
individuals who have received a Social Security Statement have
a significantly greater understanding of Social Security than
those who did not receive a statement.The January 2000 survey
results indicated that while about 57 percent of the public is
knowledgeable, 68 percent of those who received a Statement were
found to be knowledgeable.Those who have received
a statement were significantly more likely to know:

(1)The amount of Social
Security benefits depends on how much they earned;

(4)Social Security was
designed only to provide part of total retirement income.

Beginning October 2000, workers
age 55 years and older began receiving a special insert in their
annual Social Security Statement providing important information
on retirement options that will help workers make important retirement
planning decisions before reaching retirement age. The insert
highlights the various factors workers nearing retirement need
to consider, such as the long-term effects of taking a reduced
benefit or the impact work would have on their benefit.

A decision was made to modify
the mail-out schedule to accelerate the FY 2000 mailings.Rather than mail Statements to approximately 1.6 million
people turning 60 each year between 1996 and 1999 and then jump
to mailing to 133 million Statements, it was decided to phase
in the FY 2000 mailings by adding to each of the scheduled annual
mailings.Therefore,
the following schedule was put into place:

LegislatedAcceleratedActual

19957.2 million

19961.6
million5
million5.6
million

19971.7 million10 million 12.4 million

19981.8
million20
million20.6
million

19991.8 million30 million26.5 million

This
schedule allowed the Agency to handle the two primary fallout
workloads, inquiries and earnings corrections (both of which are
considered to be one-time workloads), in advance of the annual
mailing of 133 million Statements.By phasing in the additional recipients, when the annual
mailings began in FY 2000, over 70 million of the 133 million
scheduled recipients had already received one Statement.

The Agency began sending the
Statements automatically to individuals age 60 and over in 1995.As of FY 2000, nearly 73 million statements have been mailed
to individuals 40 and older.In addition, individuals have been able to request statements
from the Agency since 1988, with roughly 37 million requests for
statements over the past 12 years processed.

Along with working to assure
that the Statement would be as comprehensive and understandable
as possible, the Agency faced the additional challenge of planning
for the fallout workloads associated with the Statements.Based on experience with
the fallout workloads from the on-request Statements, the Agency
focused its attention on two major workloads, inquiries and earnings
corrections.For
first time Statement recipients, it was projected that inquiries
would occur at a rate of 5 percent and earnings corrections would
occur at a rate of 0.19 percent. While
every effort was made to encourage the public to contact us by
telephone, plans were developed for handling these workloads in
the field offices.

In the on-request Statement
process, all fallout workloads were handled by a single-site component,
the Office of Earnings Operations (OEO).To support the on-request inquiry workload, OEO had its
own toll-free number.OEO
was the only component with access to the various microfilm files
with earnings information and therefore was the only site with
the capability to correct earnings errors.If a field office received an earnings correction, they
sent it to OEO for handling.

With the impending Statement
workloads it was recognized that this single-site operation would
not have sufficient staff to handle the workloads.Rather than staff-up OEO for what would be a limited period
of peak workloads from 1995 through 2000, alternative processes
were developed.

The first change was to expand
the capability to correct earnings errors to other components
beyond OEO.Software that supported
OEO’s processing of earnings correction actions was expanded to
include field offices, program service centers, and teleservice
centers.This software
enabled any Agency processing site to establish earnings correction
actions, perform searches of its on-line Suspense file, and effectuate
earning corrections.This
software also contained communication functionality so that sites
could contact OEO for assistance, such as scouting to microfilm,
as necessary.National
training was conducted through “train-the-trainer” and Phoenix
lessons.The training
was provided to all claims technicians (claims representatives
and service representatives), teleservice representatives, and
program service center technicians (claims authorizers, benefit
authorizers, technical support staff).

The second change necessary
was to prepare for the Inquiry workload.For the first year of mailing Statements, the Statements
contained the OEO toll-free number.However, OEO did not have adequate staff or telecommunication
hardware sufficient to handle the anticipated call volumes that
were expected in later years as the mail-out volumes grew.Thus after the first year, it was decided that the SSA
National 800 Number Network (1-800-772-1213) would be used as
the telephone contact point for the Statement Inquiries.Communication links were established to connect the OEO
800 number staff into the national 800 number call routing paths.Call routing plans and
Statement specific menu prompts were developed to direct the Statement
related traffic to OEO personnel as the first call location, with
routing of overflow calls to other sites.Training was provided to all teleservice representatives,
including program service center personnel who served as “spike”
staff to assist the national 800 number staff during peak calling
periods.

In later years, when the annual
mailings reached 133 million Statements, other services were developed
to handle more of the Inquiry workload.Studies and surveys were conducted to ascertain the nature
of the inquiries, and the 800 number menu was expanded to allow
the selection of various recorded informational messages on the
topics that people called for most often.For example, answers to questions like why did I get this
Statement, where did you get my address, etc. were dealt with
in an automated menu so as to not require use of precious personnel
resources.In addition,
automated response scripts were developed to process such requests
as for forms to request a new Statement and to correct a Social
Security card.A
website [16]
was developed specifically to handle questions from the Statement,
containing responses to the most frequently asked questions and
links to other sites among other things.

From the time of the first
mailings in FY 1995, as changes occurred either in the Statement
or in the software supporting the production of the Statement,
instructional materials were updated and refresher training was
conducted.The fallout workloads
have always been closely monitored to assure that the public received
the very best service from the Agency, beginning with the receipt
of an accurate Statement to the satisfactory resolution of any
questions or earnings correction actions.

Because the Statement is the
Agency’s most useful tool for increasing public understanding
about Social Security and the need for personal financial retirement
planning, SSA has developed a multi-media campaign to alert the
public to the annual mailings.The office has also distributed a package of employee informational
materials on the Statement, and the Agency’s Internet website
offers further information about the Statement to recipients or
other individuals who have questions.

The Social Security Statement
has received recognition from many outside organizations.The National Academy of Social Insurance has said that,
“the Statement is SSA’s most effective [public information] tool.The tangibility of this form, which includes earnings for
every year in which that individual was employed by a job covered
by Social Security, may help make this program more real to people.Getting a benefit statement on a regular basis is going
to have a pronounced impact on people’s expectations and attitudes
about Social Security.”

As Commissioner Apfel has noted,
“[T]he results clearly demonstrate that Social Security Statements
are increasing the public’s understanding of the basic features
of Social Security.”In
addition, he has stated that, “[T]he Statement is not only providing
information that is useful and easy to understand, it is also
prompting millions of Americans to take action to better prepare
for retirement.”And to help the American
public do so, the Agency has used other outreach products and
technological tools to aid their endeavors.

Technology

T

he Clinton Administration
has overseen great advances in technology, enhancements in information
sharing, more open systems, online access, and the emergence of
a strong Internet presence throughout Government.In an increasingly complex
and fast-moving society, technology has become synonymous with
effective and efficient service.The new Information Highway has left the familiar communications
landmarks of the past behind, and information now doubles every
two to three years; available virtually everywhere, almost instantly.For example, the Library of Congress’ entire collection
of books could now be transmitted over optic transmission lines
in less than 10 minutes.These new developments have greatly improved Government
efficiency, public access, and employee job enrichment via advanced
technology.

At the same time, these changes
have made it difficult for many people to work through the flood
of information available to find what is really useful.The increase in information vehicles that has made it easier
for communicators to get messages out has also made it more difficult
to get those messages through to their audiences.The Agency recognizes that in the 21st century,
the Information Age, changes would continue and accelerate, and
have embraced technology as an effective tool to reach and educate
the American public.

In January 1994, Team Internet
was assembled by the Office of Systems to begin the SSA Online
initiative.Their purpose was to
create an Internet service including Internet gopher, file-transfer
protocol, and World Wide Web servers.Its success has been recognized by other agencies and other
parts of the Administration who have used this system as a model
to get on to the “Information Super Highway”.The improved services have received positive media reviews
in WIRED magazine and The Washington Post, and PC Computing magazine
honored SSA Online as one of “101 Best Internet Sites” in the
May 1995 issue.

The Agency’s Internet home
page, Social Security Online, has been recognized
as among the most innovative and information-rich in government.The Internet site provides visitors with program information,
downloadable versions of the forms used by the public, and other
new interactive services that are being adopted and added to the
web site.It is
continually undergoing major redesigns to allow the Agency to
better manage future growth, prepare for the high volume of anticipated
on line transactions, and increase the overall satisfaction and
usability of visitors.The tremendous surge in visitors to the site is testament
to its success:

The site has grown
since its start-up in 1994 (22,212 visitors), with almost 15 million
projected visitors in 2000. [17]

The Agency has continually
worked to further expand the use of the Internet as an information
source.The sites providing general
public information and press information have seen increased usage
since 1996, and the phenomenal growth of the Internet as an information
source is expected to continue to accelerate in the next several
years.The sites
also offer both English and Spanish [18]
language versions of most information pamphlets and fact sheets
that the Agency publishes.In addition, they also provide information about the Social
Security Statement for individuals who may have questions after
receiving their Statement.And they also provide information to those individuals
who may notice discrepancies in their name, date of birth, or
earnings information.

In looking to the future, a
recent survey reported that 64 percent of respondents said that
“information provided on a web page on the Internet” was either
very or somewhat useful.When the survey was conducted, only 50 percent of American
households had a personal computer, and only 38 million households
were using the Internet.Both of these numbers are expected to grow dramatically
in the next five years.

The challenge now for the Agency’s
communicators is to market the Internet site effectively.All agency publications and public service announcements
carry its web address for individuals seeking additional information.In addition, SSA Online has linked with other government
organizations such as the Administration on Aging and the FirstGov
Initiative [19]
and non-governmental organizations such as the American Savings
Education Council and the American Association of Retired Persons.

The biggest potential audience
for the Social Security’s Internet site is younger Americans,
who are most comfortable with and the most frequent users of this
medium.In 1998,
approximately 8.6 million children aged 8-12 and 8.4 million teenagers
were online.As
they reach adulthood, the Internet will be the information source
of choice for most of them.The Agency is working to let younger Americans know now
that there is information about its programs on the web.The Agency’s website includes a “YouthLink” page [20]
with age-appropriate material that teachers, in particular, may
find useful in helping their students learn about the nation’s
social insurance program.

The SSA History Page made its
debut in October 1996.It has since been rated by an independent research service
as one of the best sites on the Internet (i.e., top 5%).Among Executive Branch
agencies, the SSA History Page is second only to the National
Archives in making historical material available over the Internet.The SSA History Page contains a large volume of materials,
including several unique collections not available anywhere else.[22]The site also makes many documents
accessible that would otherwise be rare and difficult to find
outside of large university libraries.In addition to written materials, the History Page also
provides many audio and video recordings of individuals who were
prominent in the Agency’s past and who have made significant contributions
to shaping the programs of today.

This site was created in April
1998 to provide the employer community a single source for employer-related
information, publications, and forms, along with wage reporting
tips and how-to instructions.This site has proven to be a very popular source of information;
many employer-related web sites, both in the private and public
sectors, have established direct links to this site.

In May 2000, the Work Site,
designed to improve service to people with disabilities who want
to work, was created.This
site contains important information for Social Security and SSI
disability beneficiaries, and it provides specific and reliable
information for employers, service providers, advocates, and others
that help individuals with disabilities find work.Visitors will find a wide range of information on the site,
from training programs for people with disabilities to tax incentives
for employers who hire them.In addition, the Work Site is fully accessible by those
with disabilities.

Launched in October 1998, this
site provides direct deposit information and an enrollment form
to vendors and the administrative payments community.The site also has a quick link to the Payment Advice Internet
Delivery system that allows vendors to register on the web and
look up payment information when a direct deposit has been made
to their account.

In April 2000, the Agency premiered
the “Retirement Planner” to help the public assess what income
they will need in retirement, and what sources they can count
on.The Planners
contain valuable information about retirement, disability, and
survivors benefits, and factors that can affect them.It provides links to important information on factors that
can affect a worker’s retirement benefit, such as military service
or federal employment.And it provides links to the web site of the American Savings
Education Council (ASEC), which has excellent information on the
need for pensions and savings in retirement.

The Retirement Planner is an
extension of the information provided in the Social Security Statement,
giving customers who want more information an interactive ability
to ask questions.Within
the first four months of use, the Agency had more than 425,000
visitors to the site.

In March 2000, Social Security
introduced eNews, a consumer oriented electronic newsletter about
Social Security programs and issues.The free monthly newsletter, which gathered over 100,000
subscribers in the first six months it was published, provides
the latest Social Security news in a convenient readable email
format.Social Security
automatically sends the general edition of eNews
to subscribers.Special delivery of selected
topics of interest is also available for free monthly delivery
upon request.Selected
topics include:disability, retirement,
survivors, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicare, laws
and regulations, press office, wage reporting, data, studies and
research, and senior issues.

A result of the partnering
with other government agencies and outside organizations initiated
by the Agency, this site provides a wealth of information for
older Americans, together with links to other servicing agencies.The Agency sponsored
this site with other organizations such as the American Association
of Retired Persons (AARP).This type of partnership was a priority of Vice President
Gore’s National Partnership for Reinventing Government.

An Agency web site has been
established specifically to provide information and assistance
to people outside the U.S.Within the current restraints imposed by the Internet’s
lack of security for the transmission of private information,
individuals abroad have been asking for and receiving service
by e-mail at the rate of about 150 requests a month.

This site offers a variety
of different Social Security forms to the public that would accomplish
different Agency services.A member of the public can do such things as request a
new Social Security Statement or a new Social Security Card, to
downloading the form to start the disability application process.

Online Resources for Public Policy Community:

Aside from the informational
materials provided to the general public, the Agency also presents
large amounts of data and analysis for the public policy community.The Office of Policy maintains a website providing various
publications, research materials and policy papers, and links
to other sites relating to Social Security public policy issues.
[31]The Office of the Chief Actuary maintains a website putting
the actuarial tables driving Social Security public policy in
easy access for the public policy community, and information on
the Trust Funds, COLAs, and various publications and reports.
[32]These sites give the
public policy community access to the same reports and figures
that the Agency uses in determining the future of Social Security.

Communications Staff and Training

A

t the same time
the Agency was expanding its communications tools, it also recognized
that media efforts originating from Washington and Baltimore headquarters
had limitations.Much
of the public relies on local newspapers and broadcast media for
information, and making use of these outlets was vital to any
effective public information effort.The Agency increased the number of public affairs specialists
(PASs) who work in major local media markets.Between 1998-2000, the number of PASs grew from less than
30 to about 100.

The PAS position was created
to address the need for coordinated public affairs activities
in the major metropolitan areas after the elimination of many
of the Agency’s field representative positions.In 1980, the Agency had about 1,400 field representatives
who, among other duties, provided continuity of contacts within
the community, especially with the local media.The effects of increased workloads and fewer staff in field
offices caused the number of field representatives to diminish
significantly to slightly over 400 in 2000.And the focus of the field representative’s duties has
gradually changed, placing relatively less emphasis on providing
public information and more on taking benefit applications.

As the Social Security Advisory
Board noted, “[T]he curtailment of public information work by
local employees is believed by many long-time SSA employees to
be linked to a decline in public understanding of the Social Security
program.”

Even with steps being taken
to increase the number of public affairs specialists, an effective
communications program must make use of all available resources.Staff professionals handled most communication efforts,
and the Agency worked to increase the communications skills of
its executive staff and managers.SSA also began to educate its employees about vital public
issues so they can serve as its 65,000 individual representatives.

In 1999, the Agency provided
training to 135 members of the executive and senior staff, including
all of the Regional Commissioners, on messages, media, and communications
skills.From 1995
thru 1999, 1,200 field managers, public affairs specialists, and
regional public affairs officers received professionally sponsored
communications training.The training began in 1995 with a one-week course developed
specifically for the agency’s regional public affairs officers
and their assistants, together with public affairs specialists.The success of the course resulted in the development of
smaller sessions (two or three days) tailored to the needs of
managers and executives whose responsibilities include dealing
with local or national media.

The Agency also created an
“Employees as Ambassadors Program.”The purpose of this program was to provide all of the Agency’s
65,000 employees with information to respond to tough questions
about Social Security from the general public, or from family,
neighbors, and friends.As with most organizations and government agencies, the
Agency’s workforce in the past 20 years had tended to become increasingly
specialized.Computer
technicians, human resources professionals, and administrative
personnel often had little training in Social Security programs,
and even among program staff the complexity of the programs resulted
in program specialists – such as title II and title XVI specialists
– who knew their own programs well but had little cross-training
or training in big picture issues.

This increasing specialization
led to the underutilization of the Agency workforce as a source
of information for the public.To address this, a two-hour course on the basic facts,
history, and philosophy of Social Security was developed, as well
as a primer on the long-range financing issues facing the program.Every Agency employee received training through a live,
instructor-based presentation, and after the initial training,
the Agency developed an “Ambassador II” training program to inform
employees about major Social Security issues for 1999 – such as
our Y2K preparations and the new Social Security Statement.Future trainings were envisioned to keep the workforce
aware of vital and current public issues.The effort proved worthwhile as Agency employees played
a larger role in public education activities.

The Agency has also made use
of the Intranet to keep our PAS employees and other field office
employees engaged in public education, public information, and
public outreach efforts with up-to-date, timely information material.A Public Affairs Resource Center (PARC) was created on
the Employee Information Server (EIS), and it has proven to be
very popular.In
July 2000, the PARC was the third most popular source of information
on the EIS.The
site includes such features as a Correspondence Guide, the Daily
News Digest, Publications and Periodicals, and a Newsroom.The Agency continues to expand and improve the PARC.

Challenges

T

he Agency has identified
the outlines of significant communications challenges facing it
in the near future.These
include satisfying public needs and desires for information about
the future of Social Security, dealing with an increasingly diverse
society, addressing intensified individual retirement concerns
among “baby boomers,” and keeping up with technological changes.

Informing the Public:

In the present public policy
context, informing the public about critical issues regarding
the future of Social Security has become increasingly important.Ensuring the long-range future of Social Security and providing
an adequate foundation of retirement income for Americans were
and still are among the top domestic issues facing the nation.Though there are differing views as to how this can best
be accomplished, the American public needs resources and information
to be able to participate in this national dialogue.

Throughout the national debate
about the long-range financing of Social Security, there have
been many claims by various sources, each seemingly authoritative,
as to the dimensions of the long-range financing problem faced
by Social Security.With
mass media, the tendency to dramatize policy debates by seeking
out and emphasizing areas of conflict did not contribute to developing
an understanding of the issues involved or consensus for policy
change. [33]With Social Security
financing, the public was confronted with conflicting claims (sometimes
called “stat wars”), and often did not know whom to rely for factual
information and analysis.

The American public should
be able to look to SSA for factual information about the program
and the issues.One of the Agency’s primary
goals is to ensure that virtually all Americans are knowledgeable
about the program within the next few years.Much work remains to be done in achieving this goal, but
a focused and cohesive public information campaign and strategy
has been in place and is currently being implemented.More importantly, tracking the progress of these initiatives
through PUMS has contributed greatly to the Agency’s effectiveness.This public education
role for the agency is both critical and challenging as the nation
continues to struggle with resolving the long-range financing
issues facing the Social Security system.

Diversity and the
Challenge of Many Audiences:

Increasing racial and ethnic
diversity of the American population has caused the United States
to become increasingly multi-cultural. [34]The Census Bureau estimates
that by 2050 more than one-third of the population (139 million
people of a projected 383 million), will be post-1970 immigrants
and their descendants.This population growth raises several issues for Agency
communicators.

The PUMS surveys indicate that
public understanding of the Social Security program is uneven,
with women and minority populations having comparatively lower
knowledge levels about the Social Security program and long-range
financing issues.To
rectify this situation, the Agency will need to engage in more
minority outreach, particularly with non-English media.In addition to minority outreach efforts, the Agency must
be prepared to address the Social Security information needs of
women.Fully 60
percent of Social Security beneficiaries are women, and Social
Security represents a larger proportion of women’s retirement
income than men’s.Thus
the Agency has targeted a number of public information materials
to women, and many of its public information materials are available
in Spanish, other non-English language versions, and also Braille.

However, the challenge is in
getting these materials to the audience for whom they are intended.One initiative involves using daily press and periodical
publications to amplify its messages. The
Agency is working to place articles regarding Social Security
in national women’s magazines and to meet with editorial boards
of those periodical publications about topical Social Security
issues.Similarly,
in 2000 there were about 500 periodicals and 325 radio and television
stations with largely Hispanic audiences for which the Agency
is now developing and marketing brief consumer-oriented information
articles.

The Internet is, as noted previously,
an extremely promising information tool.And that is particularly true for certain sub-populations.For example, among Hispanic households with incomes over
$35,000, nearly half had a computer at home in 1998, a 20 percent
leap from just two years earlier.Furthermore, over a quarter of this population uses the
Internet.

Retirement Wave:The Baby Boom
Generation

Intensified concerns about
retirement among the “baby boom” generation have made financial
planning an increasingly important communications issue that will
remain so throughout the next decade.In 2000, there were more than 80 million members of the
“baby boom” generation (those individuals born between 1946 and
1964) who are in middle-age and beginning to look toward or think
about retirement.Between
2000 and 2010 the population aged 65 and older will grow slowly,
by about four million, from 35 million to just over 39 million,
as people born in the 1930s and early 1940s age.By contrast, between 2010 and 2030 with the baby boomers
aging, the numbers will soar by about 30 million, reaching 70
million in 2030.

The aging of America will alter
society.In the
years immediately ahead, the American public will have ever-greater
concerns about ensuring financial security in retirement.The Agency has worked
very hard to communicate information about a worker’s rights and
responsibilities under the program, as well as basic facts about
the program, the philosophy of the program, and the non-retirement
benefits provided by Social Security.

But the dramatic demographic
changes mean that the Agency needs to broaden its public information
efforts to include more data on financial planning.For example, it is anticipated that there will be far greater
public demand for more information about the income replacement
value of Social Security benefits, the already scheduled rise
in the normal retirement age, the retirement earnings test, and
cost-of-living adjustments.It is also expected, due to a relatively high divorce rate
since the late 1960s, that there will be a greater need for public
information about divorced spouse benefits under Social Security.

Other federal government agencies,
such as the Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange
Commission, are also undertaking national campaigns to increase
public awareness about saving and investing for retirement.As more Americans near
retirement age, there will be a need for greater coordination
among federal agencies and other outside organizations regarding
financial planning messages.

Broad public concern about
financial security in retirement also presents an opportunity
for cooperative education/information campaigns between Social
Security and the private sector, including banking and investment
industry firms, and the life insurance industry.Because Social Security has always advocated a "three-legged"
financial stool for retirement security (Social Security benefits,
pensions, and individual savings), messages involving sectors
such as these would be complementary, rather than competitive.

In the immediate future, the
Agency must do more to help those individuals now in early to
mid-50s understand the complexities of retirement decision-making,
and working with other government agencies and private organizations,
provide them with all of the information needed to make an informed
decision.

Technology:

The communications revolution
has not only changed the way the Agency distributes information,
it has changed the way it conducts business.The reason is clear – the Internet is growing faster than
all other technologies before it; radio was around for 38 years
before it had 50 million listeners, television took 13 years to
attract 50 million viewers, and the Internet got there in just
four years.The Agency is now committed
to exploring options for greater usage of the Internet, and the
Commissioner has committed the Agency to deploying a suite of
services over the Internet.

How the Agency prepares to
continue to inform the public about Social Security will be tested
as the population changes, the baby boomers begin to focus on
retirement, and media attention about the future of Social Security
becomes more widespread.Certainly the need to develop new communications tools
and new approaches will continue, and the ever evolving development
of the Internet and other communications technologies will demand
that the Agency be both quicker to recognize and to adapt to a
changing communications environment.But the “digital divide” also means that a public service
agency such as SSA must be committed to providing Social Security
and retirement planning information in the ways that the American
public will want it, and in a manner that is accessible to it.The need for such a communications approach by the Agency
has not been greater since the creation of the program 65 years
ago.

[1]
The main external stakeholders are the American Public, the Congress,
the White House, and the media.

[7]
For example, under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193), Congress required
the Commissioner to report annually to the President and to
the Congress on the status of the SSI program.The first such report was issued in May 1997, and have
been issued annually since.

[10]
Under HHS, the Agency did not have an actual physical presence
in Washington, D.C.

[11]
The legislation would also enable the Agency to recruit and
hire personnel in anticipation of the “retirement wave” of large
numbers of Social Security employees in the coming decade.

[12]
This will become especially important in the coming decade as
more than 80 million members of the “baby boom” generation reach
middle age.In
2008 the first of these individuals will begin to retire, and
many are just now starting to prepare financial plans for their
retirement years.

[19]
FirstGov was a Clinton Administration initiative (FY 2000) to
combine all online federal services into one site for the American
public’s convenience (i.e., to become the portal site for government
services).Its
motto was:“Your
First Click to the U.S. Government” www.firstgov.gov

[20]
www.ssa.gov/kids/

[21]
www.ssa.gov/history/

[22]
The History Page posted the first Social Security Trustees Report
from 1942 and the Report on Health Insurance from the 1934 Committee
on Economic Security, neither of which had been previously available.

[23]
www.ssa.gov/employer/

[24]
www.ssa.gov/work/

[25]
www.ssa.gov/vendor/

[26]
www.ssa.gov/retire/

[27]
www.ssa.gov/enews/

[28]
www.seniors.gov/

[29]
www.ssa.gov/international/inter_intro.html

[30]
www.ssa.gov/online/forms.html

[31]
www.ssa.gov/policy/

[32]
www.ssa.gov/OACT/

[33]
The Securities and Exchange Commission, in the context of assessing
workers’ retirement planning, noted that most people were unable
to independently sort through complex economic information.

[34]
As of 2000, African-Americans comprise 12 percent of the general
population, Hispanics approximately 11 percent, and Asian Americans,
the fastest growing segment of the American population, 4 percent.Within the next 50 years, these percentages will grow
dramatically.African-Americans
are projected to comprise 13 percent of the population, Hispanics
to more than 20 percent, and Asian Americans to more than 10
percent, with much of this increase resulting from immigration.

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